Industrie Chimiche v Nea Ninemia Shipping: 1983

Construction of exemption clause in time charterparty: ‘Since it is inherently improbable that one party to a contract should intend to absolve the other party from the consequences of the latter’s own negligence, the court will presume a clause not to have that effect unless the contrary is plainly shown by clear words or by implication.’ and ‘In carrying out that task of construction, the court should not treat commercial parties as if they were law students.’

Judges:

Bingham J

Citations:

[1983] 1 All ER 686

Citing:

CitedLamport and Holt Lines v Coubro, The Raphael CA 1982
The court considered how it should treat the construction of a contractual clause claiming that one party should be exempt from liability for its own negligence: ‘Thus, if an exemption clause of the kind we are considering excludes liability for . .

Cited by:

CitedStent Foundations Ltd v M J Gleeson Group Plc TCC 9-Aug-2000
The defendant company sought to rely upon an exemption clause.
Held: Applying standard rules for contract interpretation, the exemption clause was to be construed against the one proposing it. At best the clause was ambiguous, and the . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Contract, Transport

Updated: 13 May 2022; Ref: scu.195681